Hopping question

[Cookiebaggs]

Question, is it OK to use a boil bag for hop pellets or just throw them in without? Or is it just a matter of personal preference?

I use pellets in a bag for the bittering and drop in smaller additions for flavor and aroma in a seperate bag. It's nice to kep most of the spent hop matter out of the wort but I wonder if this lessens the hops potency. Any opinions on this?

 

[magno]

There is supposedly a drop in efficiency when you use the bags. I dont use them, but you should if it makes you worry less and enjoy your homebrew more.

- magno

 

[cweston]

Good answer, Magno.

Brewing software like Pro Mash or BeerSmith will adjust amounts for you depending on whether you're using hops bags or not. Beer recipator (free) will also do this.

Do whatever works for you. Pellet hops trub is very hard to strain, so if you don't want it in your fermenter, it's probably best to use bags, or else use the whirpool technique and then siphon out of your brew pot (leaving most of the hops trub in the pot).

In any case, you will leave it behind on the bottom of the fermenter if you rack to secondary, so RDWHAHB.